William eandel



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. RANDEL.

BUTTON EoLE SEWING MACHINE. No. 363,678. T191 Patented May 24, 1887.

,dhhull (No Model.)

2 SheetsnSheet 2.. W. QANDEL.

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINE. VN0. 363,678.

Patented May 24, 1887.

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Y l'nvenlr y Za/sso-n/ UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcEc WILLIAMl RANDEL, OF TROY, NEV YORK.

BUTTON-#HOLE SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part or' Letters Patent No. 363,678, dated May 24, 1887.

Application filed October 1S, 1886. Serial No. 216,530.

To all whom it may concern: f

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RANDEL, a citi-zen of the United States, residing at Troy, in the county of Rensselaer, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Hole Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

lThe object of my improvement is to combine Wit-h aseWing-maehine carrying a button-hole attachmentsecured thereto one or more plain sewing-machines placed alongside of the button-hole sewing-machine, and by connecting their cloth-feedingmechanism with the button-hole attach ment ofthe tirst cause the clothfeeding mechanism of all vthe machines connected to work in unison with the cloth-feeding mechanism of the button-hole attachment, or of the machine carrying it, and thereby permitting two, three, or more buttonholes to be produced at the same time from plain sewingmachines,without incurring the expense of as many button-hole attachments and of as many operators to control them-win other Words, accomplishing three or four times the same amount of work in the same space of ti me without materially increasing the expense. I aecomplish these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- `Figure 1 representsin top View two sewingmachines having their needle-arms and elevated frames thereof broken away and removed to clearly exhibit their connections, the righthand machine carrying a lbuttonfhole attachment secured thereto and the left-hand machine provided with a horizontal presser-foot and cloth-plate connected with the other and with its button-hole attachment. Fig. 2 isl a vertical section on line x .c ofFig. l. Fig. 81s a side viewintended to show diagrammatically the means to unite and operate four machines in unison under the control of a single buttonhole attachment. Fig. 4t is a front View of two sewing-machines to which are attached the means for releasing simultaneously and by one movement of the operator the tension on the thread of four connected sewing-machines, and also simultaneously operating the presser-foot of each. Fig. 5 is a plan view,

(No model.)

detached, of the thread-drawing and tension releasingV means. Fig. 6 represents,on a small scale in plan, three sewing-machines'connected together to form simultaneously three buttonholes on a collar, the central machine carrying a button-hole attachment connected with the clothfeeding mechanism ofthe three machines. Fig. 7 is a similar plan of four sewing-machines connected together to form simultaneously the four button-holes of a cuff, one of the machines carrying a button-hole attachment connected with the clotlrfeeding mechanism ofthe four machines. y

As many of the patented button-hole attach ments found on the market could be used in connection with my invention, I. will only briefly describe the main operative parts of one, taking, for example, the button-hole attachment fully shown in Patent No. 252,052, of January 10, 1882, and using the same letters of reference, (so far as the description will ex tend,) there will be no difficulty in understanding the whole construction ofthe attachment. y Y

In the drawings, A is the bed-plate, which supports the other parts ofthe button-holeattachment. It is secured by any suitablemean's t'o t-he frame or bed-plate Al of a sewing-machine under the head A', so that the feed-foot B can bear properly upon the \vo1lCplateZ o1' the machine.

The foot B is mounted upon the feed-bar C, which is formed to slide to and fro parallel to the lengthwise direction ofthe opening through the part B upon the guide-plate D, and the feed-bar is connected by a pitman, E, to a crank-pin, a, radially adjustable on the rotary crank-wheel F, so that by the rotation of the latter step by step the feed-bar will be moved step by step to and fro adistance regulated by the distance of the eranlepin from the center of the crank-wheel. Any suitable known equivalent for the pitman Ecan be used for imparting to and fr0 movements to the feedbar from the crank-wheel.

G is a plate-which is connected with the guide-plate D, and supported by ways b b on the base A, so as to be movable to and fro and give reciprocating motion to the feedbar C, to form the over-edge stitches in a direction transverse to that in which the feed-bar` is moved to and fro in or on its guide-plate D, and the plate G is connected by a self-adjusting stud, c,with a lever,H,which is pivoted at d to the plate A, and is adjustably connected by a link, H', with a lever, H2, that is pivoted at d to the base-plate, and has a cam-follower, c', which is formed to engage with a suitable driving-cam, A3, on the sewing-machine.

The guide-plate D is supported by ways c e on the transversely-reciprocating plate G, and is also connected with the latter by a lever engaging with a cam fast on the crankwheel F, which is carried by the plate G, whereby the plate D and feed-bar G, with its feed-foot B, are suitably reciprocated.

The foot B is mounted upon one end of a leaf-spring, T, which is fastened at its other end to an arm,U,that is hinged at qtoa raised part, q,of the feed-bar C, and V is a cam journaled upon a stud, q2, that is fast on or a part of the feed-bar, `and extends through andabove a perforation through the arm U, so that by turning down the camV by means of its handie V, that cam will then bear upon and force down the rigid arm U, and thereby, through the spring T', press the foot B with an elastic pressure upon the button-hole work on the work-supporting plate Z of the sewing-machine. A spring, U, serves to elevate the arm Uwhen the cam V is turned up. A bridge, A2, has its ends secured to the bedplate A2, and bearslightly upon the feed-bar C, to prevent it from rising up when the goods are clamped and the needle goes up.

In my improvement the handles V of the cam-levers V are united by a connecting-rod, V2, provided with a sleeve,V3, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, so that its length can be regulated according to the distance the two sewing-machines are secured apart, (for different length of cuffs or collars, as the case may be.)

It' four machines are used, the handles of' the cam-levers can be retained in pairs by t-he rods V2, and said rods be again connected by a spider or rods, V2, Fig. 4, so as to be all acted upon by one movement of the operator.

To connect the feed mechanism of a plain sewing-machine (unprovided with an ordinary presser-foot) with the feed mechanism of the button-hole attachment carried by the plate A, the feed-bar C is extended beyond the bedplate A2 of the machine carrying said attachment, and is adjustably connected at c2 with the feed-bar C of the adjoining machine or machines, and this under the control of the crankwheel F produces the small feed for the zigzag stitch of a button-hole, the long-stitch feed of said zigzag being produced by the plate G, connected with the guide-plate D. Said plate G is also extended beyond the bedplate A2, and up to a point in the rear of the foot Bofthe adjoining sewing machine or machines, where it rests upon and engages with a track, c2, projecting upward from the feed-bar C, and thus backs up, stiffens, and controls one motion of said bar C without interfering with its other motion. An angularbrace, G2,

having one end secured to the guide-plate D and the other to the plate G, is placed in the rear of said plate to increase its rigidity and the steadiness of its motion.

The front portion ofthe feed-bar C is made in two or more lengths, (according to the number of sewingmachines used,) and said lengths are made adjustable upon each other at c2 to permit changes of distance between the sewing-machines. Vhen four machines are used, as shown in Fig. 7, the fore and aft portions of the feed-bars G are also adjustable for the same purpose.

To pull and slack thread simultaneously on, for example, four machines when the four button-holes are completed, each machine is provided with a vertical shaft, a2, placed in the bearings usually occupied by the presserfoot rod of ordinary sewingmachines, and each shaft is provided with a radial arm, a3, that occupies a position nearly in contact with the thread passing from the tension device to the take-up and the eye of the needle, so that when said arm a3 makes a quarter-revolution it pulls a sufficient amount of thread from the upper spool and tension device to cause the machine to start and sew properly upon the next piece of work placed under its presserfoot. Each shaft a2 is also provided with a radial arm, at, that is united by means of a connecting-rod, a5, with a crank, a, that is controlled by a handle, ai. This crank is supported and properly retained by a brace or plate, a", secured to the heads of one or more of the machines. The length of the brace a2 and of the connecting-rods a5 can be adjusted by means of sleeves a2, or other well-known means;

To connect two, three, or four machines, so that they will werk in unison and will produce the same number of stitches, they are united as follows: For example, if two machines only are used, as shown in Fig. l, there is secured upon the driving-shaft ot' each a large pulley, A5, and asmall pulley, A. One of the pulleys A5 is connected with the motor and the small pulleys are united by a belt, A7; butto prevent the belt from slipping upon one of the small pulleys, the large pulleys are also united by a connecting-rod, AB, that is made adj ustable in length to permit changes of relative position of the machine. Vhen three machines are used in a row, as shown in Fig. 6, the large pulleys of two adjacent machines are united by a belt, besides a connecting-rod, as AS. When four machines are used simultaneously, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, one of the pulleys A5 of two oppositely-facing machines is united by means of a connecting-rod, da, to a counter-shaft or crank-shaft, d, extending under the machines, and said crank-shaft carries two pulleys, d, with belts d?, to give steadiness to the motion transmitted by the connecting-rods d, One of the belts d2 at one end of the crank-shaft is a straight belt, while at the opposite end it is a crossed belt to give the proper direction of motion to the four ma- IOO IIO

ISO

chines. Thcsemachines are adj ustably secured upon a table, M, and are retained either by a clamping-screw, m, as used upon the tail-block of a lathe, or they may be mounted upon sliding carriages controlled by long` horizontal screws, each provided with a handle.

As large factories may use a large number of machines connected in series, as above described, upon the saine size cuffs or other garments, the relative position of the machines may not require to be changed during many weeks ormonths, and separate sizes of feedbars C and of connecting-rods may be employedin place of havingthese parts regulable.

I have used in the above description the terms plain sewing-machine7 and buttonhole sewing-machine.77 To prevent any misunderstanding of these terms, I will state that by plain sewing-machine7 I mean a machine organized with the necessary stitch-forming, feed, take-np, and tension mechanism, andby button-hole sewing-machine7 I mean a machine organized with not only the above means, but alsoincluding the necessary cloth-clamp and means for givingthe same an intermittently vibratingl and reciprocating movement. I

have also mentioned the terms a button-hole sewing-machine77 and a plain sewing-ma-Y also including the necessary cloth-clamp and means for giving the same an intermittently vibrating and reciprocating movemena) and a plain sewing-machine, (that is, a machine organized with the necessary stitch-forming,

feed, take-u p, and tension lncchanisms,) with connecting means, whereby said plain sewingmachine is caused to produce button-holes under the control of the button-hole sewing-machine, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of a plain sewing-machine with abutton-hole sewing-machine hav ing its feed-bar G and transversely-reciprocating plate G extending over both machines,

and means,as described,to connect the drivingpulleys of said machines, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a plain sewing-machine,andabutton-holesewing-machinehaving its feed-bar and transversely-reciprocating plate extending over both machines, with means, as described, forconnccting their driving-pulleys, and connecting-rods uniting the handles of their presser-feet, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4i. The combination of aplain sewing-machine, and abutton-hole sewing-machine having its feed-bar and transverselyreciprocating plate extending over both machines, with means, substantially as described,whereby the threads of both machines are simultaneously pulled and slackened under the control of a handle, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a plain sewing-machine, adjustably secured upon a table or platform, and a button-hole sewing-machine secured upon said table, each machine having pulleys A5 and A,With a counter-shaft, d, its

4pulleys d5 and belts 17 at each end. and conmeeting-rods ds parallel with said belts, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM RAN-DEL.

Vitnesses: i

JN0. W. CIPPERLY, THEO. E. HAsLnnURs'r. 

